REVIEW: ’65’ Is Adam Driver With a Gun Shooting Dinosaurs and That Rules

When it comes to movies with premises that seem outlandish, the best way to go about it is to just lean into the absurd and have some fun with it, and that’s what 65 does. A movie where Adam Driver headshots a T. Rex, 65 knows what it is about and has fun with it. When you think about a movie that just has an alien man shooting dinosaurs, you should immediately know that what you’re going to get is an action movie that isn’t changing the world, but the reason 65 works is that we love to see the charm of Adam Driver onscreen.

When the first trailers for the movie dropped, everyone was in simply because the movie had Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs, and I’m happy to report that yes, that’s what this movie is. Mills (Driver) is an explorer from another planet who is bringing a convoy back to their home planet. While on the quest there, the ship is hit by an unidentified astroid belt that sends them crashing into what is Earth, back when dinosaurs roamed the planet.

Thinking he’s alone, Mills is ready to give up when he finds Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) still alive from the crash. It is then that his fight is reignited to get off this planet and Koa home, but that does mean fighting off dinosaurs with nothing but his space gun and a bit of hope. What is so great about this movie is that it is exactly what you think it would be, just mixed in with a little heart.

Mills goes on this two-year mission to make money to help his sick daughter Nevine (Chloe Coleman). He leaves everyone he loves behind, and seeing his push to get Koa home does give weight to the story.

But he really does shoot a dinosaur

Now, don’t get me wrong; the film does have a lot of shooting at dinosaurs. Written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, 65 finds a way of explaining all the technology of Mills and his team with such an ease. We don’t really need to know how all the ships function; we have the information we need and can run with it from there. Mills’ gun that he uses throughout the movie is not a typical gun we’re used to, but we see it enough through the movie that, by the end, we can figure out what’s wrong with it alongside him.

And yes, he really does do a headshot to a T. Rex and then uses a geyser to help him run away. It’s weird and out there but also just a fun time. Often, I think movies like this get discounted because they are just sci-fi/action movies and not pushing the envelope, but the reason I like 65 so much is because it plays to Adam Drivers’ strengths while giving us another found family situation between Mills and Koa.

Their relationship is one that makes you care about whether or not they survive Earth, as meteors are falling around them and dinosaurs are trying to kill them. As a whole, the movie is more frightening than something like we’ve come to know with Jurassic Park because the dinosaurs are jumping out and screaming throughout the movie.

But it’s a fun ride, and who doesn’t love a good Adam Driver movie? 65 is in theaters on March 10.

(featured image: Sony Pictures)